Your Right to Know

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed yesterday that a former U.S. spy-agency
contractor sought by the United States was in the transit area of a Moscow airport, but he ruled
out handing Edward Snowden to Washington, dismissing U.S. criticisms as “ravings and rubbish.”

Putin appeared to make light of the diplomatic uproar over the fugitive Snowden, whose flight
from U.S. authorities is becoming a growing embarrassment. Asked by a journalist about the affair,
Putin smiled fleetingly.

“I myself would prefer not to deal with these issues. It’s like shearing a piglet: There’s a lot
of squealing, but there’s little wool,” Putin said at a news conference in Finland.

Snowden, who worked as a systems administrator at a U.S. National Security Agency facility in
Hawaii, is facing espionage charges from the United States after leaking details about secret U.S.
surveillance programs to the news media.

Putin’s refusal to hand back Snowden risked deepening a rift with the United States that also
has drawn in China and threatens relations between countries that might be essential in settling
global conflicts, including the Syrian war.

Republican lawmakers in Washington yesterday seized on the Snowden saga to portray President
Barack Obama as an ineffective leader.

Washington has gone to great lengths to try to ensure that Snowden has nowhere to go to seek
refuge. But Putin said Russia had no extradition treaty with the United States and suggested that
Moscow would expel Snowden only if he were a criminal.

“He has not crossed the state’s border, and therefore does not need a visa. And any accusations
against Russia (of aiding him) are ravings and rubbish,” Putin said in the garden of a presidential
residence, with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto beside him.

Shortly after Putin’s comments, the White House again urged Russia to immediately expel Snowden
and said Moscow had a “clear legal basis” to do so because of his revoked passport and the
outstanding charges against him.

“Accordingly, we are asking the Russian government to take action to expel Mr. Snowden without
delay and to build upon the strong law-enforcement cooperation we have had, particularly since the
Boston Marathon bombing,” said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin
Hayden.

Hayden said the United States agreed with Putin’s comment in Finland that it did not want the
incident to negatively affect U.S.-Russia relations, but members of the U.S. Congress denounced
Putin’s stance.

“It should cause a profound re-evaluation on our relationship with Russia and with Vladimir
Putin, something that a lot of us have been saying for a long time,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
said.

Hours earlier, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had cautiously questioned the Russian
approach.

“It is accurate there is not an extradition treaty between Russia and the United States, but
there are standards of behavior between sovereign nations,” Kerry said in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Republican critics of the president said the Snowden furor was a sign of Obama’s weakness and
declining international stature, and Russia was taking advantage of the United States.

“They know that he’s weak. They know that he’s so fearful about getting involved in
balance-of-power foreign affairs and they’re playing on it, and they’re enjoying it very, very
much,” said Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.

Snowden has applied for asylum in Ecuador, but Quito has said it still is considering the
application. The United States is trying to persuade the governments of countries where he might
head to hand him over. His plans remain unclear.

Putin said the 30-year-old Snowden was in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and,
not having gone through passport control, was free to leave.

Russian law requires travelers who spend more than 24 hours in the airport’s transit area — as
Snowden has done — to get a transit visa. It was unclear whether Snowden had sought or received a
transit visa.

Snowden left Hong Kong for Moscow on Sunday, and the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy group said he was
headed for Ecuador and is traveling on a refugee document of passage provided by Ecuador.

Fallout from a protracted wrangle over Snowden could be far-reaching, as Russia, the United
States and China hold veto powers at the U.N. Security Council and their broad agreement could be
vital to any settlement in Syria.

Talks between the United States and Russia to set up a Syrian peace conference produced no deal
yesterday.